The invention relates to methods and apparatus for quickly selecting various degrees of electrical stimulation applied by a collar-mounted receiver-stimulator unit worn by an animal in response to remote stimulus control signals produced by a remote transmitter operated by a trainer.
For a number of years the present assignee has manufactured and marketed remote dog training devices that each include a remote control hand-held radio transmitter and a collar-mounted lightweight radio receiver and associated electronic circuitry that detects coded radio signals from the transmitter unit and then delivers electrical stimulus signals to the dog. A problem that the assignee has spent years attempting to solve is that of providing optimum stimulus levels to the dog for particular training conditions. It is known that too great an electrical stimulus applied to the animal being trained under a particular set of conditions may have a bad overall affect on the dog's emotional well-being, just as excessively intense spanking would be bad for a human child's emotional well-being. On the other hand, good dog training practice requires that the electrical shock stimulus must be sufficient to achieve the desired training objectives. The assignee's present and previously marketed animal training systems have provided a set of five plug-in intensity level adjusting resistors which can be individually plugged into the receiver unit to establish a selected level of intensity of electrical stimulation applied to the dog when the remote transmitter is actuated. The lowest level of intensity produced by one of the intensity level adjusting resistors, i.e., "level one", produces a slight tingling sensation. Levels two, three, four and five provide progressively higher levels of sensation, level five being very uncomfortable.
A problem with the above-described plug-in intensity level adjusting resistors is, of course, that once a particular level adjusting resistor is inserted, the only way of changing the amount of electrical stimulation that can be applied to the dog (by actuating a control on the remote transmitter) is by removing the present intensity level adjusting resistor from the dog's collar unit and substituting another. Unfortunately, the degree of electrical stimulation that will be most effective in training a dog is greatly dependent on the attentiveness of the dog to the trainer. In a typical training situation a fairly low level of electrical stimulation selectively applied by the trainer (by actuating the remote transmitter) will be very effective in accomplishing the desired training goals if used by a skilled trainer in accordance with good dog training practice. However, if an event occurs that greatly distracts the dog, for example if another dog appears, a cat runs by, or a male dog smells a nearby female animal in heat, the degree of electrical stimulation resulting from the previously selected intensity level adjusting resistor may be completely inadequate. In fact, the dog may not even feel the electrical stimulation that the trainer attempts to apply to the dog.
The inventors have learned that the above-described scenario has two very negative effects on the overall training of the dog. First, the trainer is unable to apply the appropriate degree of aversive stimulation that will prevent the dog from engaging in the undesired behavior, i.e., chasing the rabbit. Second, the dog, which already knows as a result of prior training that the behavior is undesired, now learns that it can get away with the undesired behavior because the trainer did not take any immediate effective deterrent action, since the dog, due to the high level of distraction, did not even feel the stimulation that the trainer actually applied. The dog therefore believes that it now is somewhat acceptable to engage in the undesired behavior. The net effect of this scenario is that a large backward step in the training of the dog has just been taken.
Although it theoretically would be possible to provide remote control switches to allow remote selection of different stimulation intensity levels by electrically "switching in" different intensity level adjusting resistors, this would add too much to the weight, size, and cost of a receiver unit which, as a practical matter, must be small, light, and inexpensive.
The assignee has attempted other approaches to achieve remote control of the degree of intensity of the stimulation applied to the dog. Various such approaches attempted by the assignee have resulted in unacceptable variation in the open circuit voltage of the output transformer, the secondary windings of which are connected to the electrodes that contact the dog's skin. Such variation in open circuit voltage is very undesirable because it can cause the intensity of the electrical stimulation as felt by the dog to vary widely according to variations in the moistness of the dog's skin, the tightness of the collar, and various movements by the dog.
One recently available device manufactured by Momentum Technology, Inc., of Cat Springs, Texas provides a remote control electronic training device that allows selection of three variable stimulus intensity levels selectable from the transmitter. However, this device has the disadvantage of reducing the output voltage to achieve lower levels of electrical stimulation when the medium or low level of electrical stimulation is selected. This results in wide, unpredictable variations in the degree of electrical stimulation felt by the dog due to inconsistent coupling of the electrical current to the dog's skin. This is particularly evident when the low level is selected, and is evident to a lesser degree when the medium level is selected.
Thus, there is a presently unmet need for an economical, reliable, practical apparatus and method for enabling the trainer to immediately provide an optimum degree of electrical stimulation to meet the needs of a training situation wherein there are rapid variations in the distraction levels to the animal.